


Stories of the Second Self: Night and Day

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [59]
Category: Urban Fantasy - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-20 18:42:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: Cassandra's marriage to Marius thirty-four years ago was an unlikely pairing of opposites. Alter Idem just made it official, when Cassandra turned into a vampire and her husband became an angel. Their relationship was already toxic, but they each kept up appearances for the benefit of their wealthy families. Nothing Cassandra did or bought could stave off uphappyness, and then she realized she couldn't live with Marius' habitual betrayal.
Series: Alter Idem [59]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Night and Day

"Enjoy your 'tea'," Cassandra's husband said with a sneer and a disdainful flutter of his transparent wings, before leaving her in the windowless kitchen.

Cassandra heard Marius head upstairs and then leave the house out the front door. It had been like this since before they both spontaneously turned. It wasn't quite her idea or Marius' to get married thirty four years ago, despite surface appearances. That she and Marius both appeared young again was just another facade among the many they wore before Alter Idem.

They both came from money, and each of their families thought to marry up into more money from the other. Money allowed for the remodel of the house, kept the chaos of civil collapse at bay, bought influence when order was restored, and garnered more friends than Cassandra or Marius would've ever been able to make with their charisma. Wealth meant that Cassandra didn't have to get her own blood, and she could shop around for whatever suited her tastes.

Believing herself distant from the street prowling or looking for blood dealers in person, Cassandra felt as driven-snow pure as the explosion of white in her kitchen, her clothes, and hair dye costing more than many Cincinnati residents made in a month. The only red in the room were her eye shadow, lipstick, pet cardinal, and the contents of her cup. Despite the stories, she could see herself in mirrors, but avoided it as much as she could. Those solid black eyes were a constant reminder of her living death. In none of the forced smiles she had to dole out in social events or among friends did Cassandra's lips part.

Taking a sip of blood, Cassandra's teeth clinked against the china. She was glad not to have long fangs, but despite being no longer than human teeth every one of hers were sharp as razors and curved backward. A sudden urge to get a knife out of a drawer came upon her. Even the cardinal hopping onto the lip of the cup wasn't distraction enough from Cassandra's need to punish herself.

She downed the rest of the blood, startling the cardinal into jumping off, and then set the cup with the saucer on the table. She went over to the knife drawer and just about touched a knife handle when her domestic servant, Sofia suddenly entered.

"Ma'am," Sofia said, "I made the bed and started laundry. Is there anything I can get for you before cleaning?"

Cassandra pulled her empty hand out of the drawer before subtly closing it. "No, nothing right now. Just make sure the bathroom is spotless before Marius gets home."

It was a force of habit, Cassandra worrying about Marius' reaction to finding traces of his own philandry in any one of the seven bathrooms. In the first couple years of marriage, Cassandra didn't know, but when she saw the results one day she had confronted Marius about it. That's when the hitting started. His constantly shaming her before that then made sense.

The last time Marius struct her was the night before she died in their bed. It wasn't until three days later that she realized what had happened to herself, but Marius at least dared not lay a hand on her after that. The emergence of his wings months later didn't embolden him to resuming the physical abuse, though he made up the difference with criticisms and slights against her undeath rather than the prior remarks against her weight.

"Yes Ma'am," Sofia answered, bringing Cassandra back into the present.

"I'm going out," Cassandra suddenly announced.

"It's past sunup, Ma'am," Sofia reminded.

"I'll cover up," Cassandra declared and tossed a fake smile Sofia's way.

Going to the master bedroom, Cassandra opened her closet to select from her wardrobe. Nothing was darker than red, and that color she wore sparingly. What resembled robes were made from tight-weave fabric made specifically for vampires, and Cassandra had a variety of polarized face shields to accessorize with them.

She pulled out a white shroud, and then thought twice of it before selecting a daisy yellow one instead. The face shield she wore with that most often had images of marigolds on its front, which put the face shield well beyond the price of most vampires, as too few manufacturers remained to produce the specialty items.

Changing into a frilly orange dress beforehand, Cassandra then toss the hooded garment onto the bed before going into master bathroom to change her makeup. Wiping away what she only put on two hours ago, Cassandra stopped and studied herself in the mirror.

Cold and heartless was just an expression before, but Cassandra especially hated the descriptor now. The texture of her skin was flawless, but the hollowness of her cheeks and temples, plus a funerary paleness, stole away any sense of beauty or perfection.

"Nobody likes you," Cassandra told her reflection, "You don't have friends. You have acquaintances who want something."

After, Cassandra covered her real face, which helped bury what little passed for her feelings. Then she covered herself with the sun robe, gloves, and face shield, picked up her purse, and left the bedroom.

Coming to the stairs, Cassandra hesitated and reflexively covered her eyes before looking up. It was silly, since indirect sunlight didn't include UV, and her hand would've burned if it had, if she hadn't covered herself up head to foot. Yet, the daylight permeated the ground floor like a Marius' scorn blinding Cassandra to her self worth.

Finally forcing herself up the stairs, Cassandra went to the front door and opened it slowly. Next, she rummaged through her purse for her car keys while striding to the driveway. Marius always insisted that she park her car further from the door, and wouldn't let her use the garage. That, he reserved for his other two cars, the boat, his motorcycle, and just an empty space not quite room enough for her car anyway, as if a vacuous taunt.

Cassandra beeped her car into starting, and then got in, feeling a little more secure with a roof again over her head. She then pulled out of the driveway.

Cruising down into Fairfax Cincinnati, often nicknamed 'Fairyfax,' Cassandra noticed a window display in one of her favorite stores. It had been changed from last week, making her wonder what other inventory came in. She signaled her turn, and pulled into the store's parking lot.

What separated post-Alter Idem Fairfax from the rest of Cincinnati, and from before the supernatural emerged around the world, was the predominance of Fae, most especially the uppermost caste whose antlers displayed more points. While Cassandra's kind weren't really welcomed her money was.

Entering the store, Cassandra immediately drew stares. She chased those away by taking the face shield off, careful to turning away from the windows first, and assembled a pace of pseudo-confidence deeper into the establishment.

"Oh my god, she's back again," Cassandra heard one pointed-eared and antlered woman whisper to another seated near the perfume counter.

"Just pretend you don't see her," the other said and stood to pick through bottles on the counter.

Cassandra went to the jewelry counter on the other side of the main isle, and made sure to get at least one fixture between herself and the two Fae women. She noticed a few new bracelets on display, and asked the human twenty-something girl behind the counter, "Excuse me, but can I get a closer look at this one?"

"Why hello...," the girl said before her voice caught in her throat, and then recovered quickly, "Yeah, I can do that."

The girl brought out the bracelet in its display stand and the top it originally came with. Cassandra picked up the bracelet and turned it over before trying it on.

"Oh, sorry," the girl spoke up, and appeared to want to reach out. "I'm not sure my manager wants you do to that. I mean... uh, you know, she wants it presentable."

The pang was slight, but Cassandra felt it in her throat, as she waved her hand over her mouth. "That's just lipstick."

"Oh, alright," the girl replied, and quickly looked over her shoulder. "No one's looking."

It was like that in most luxury stores, not just in Fairfax, though many Fae in this part of town poured a little extra scorn onto her. They did it to humans and some angels, but that was better than the werewolves, who wouldn't even have made it into the Fairfax district, for police profiling stopped them well short of that. Giants were let off the hook, mostly, because it was assumed they were day laborers.

"Is there anything else new?" Cassandra asked, after placing the bracelet back on the stand.

The human girl brought her attention to some other items, though Cassandra was distracted in pondering if the girl were made more nervous by Cassandra herself or the thought her manager could come around any moment now.

Settling on a new set of silver earrings with tiny ruby studs, Cassandra paid for them and headed for the door. She paused by the perfume counter where the two Fae women shifted in their stances, aware that Cassandra was nearby.

"Love the nose job," Cassandra tossed the remark at them, and covered herself before walking to the entrance.

At least the bridge of her nose didn't look like Bambi's mother.

Cassandra passed up other establishments that she drove by, and before coming across the concert hall her family owned. Again, pulling into a parking lot, Cassandra stayed in her car and strained to read the performance postings. Her vision was twenty-twenty, thanks to vampirism, but the visible daylight and the extra illumination of warmth created a glare as hard to penetrate as nighttime gloom for others.

Les Miserable was the show scheduled, though with travel between states more difficult for theater companies, Cassandra wondered who the production manager found in the casting call to live up to the hall's reputation. Her family's diverse array of business interests were hard to keep track of, but Cassandra made sure to keep up, so as to justify having the largest stake in family assets.

"Excuse me miss," a tall burly man caught her attention and rapped a knuckle on the driver side window of her car.

It was a Cernnunos Fae security guard, with his five-antlers making it impossible for him to wear a hat with his uniform.

Cassandra pressed the window control to answer. "I'm Mrs. Cassandra Scripps."

The guard stepped back, his hooves clopping hard against asphalt, he stooped and studied her thoroughly before replying, "My apologies, Mrs. Scripps. I didn't recognize you. Is there anything I can help you with?"

It was that last statement that still carried a hint of inflection a street cop would say to someone they thought might've been casing a joint for a crime.

"No thank you," Cassandra said, and rolled the window back up before he could bid a goodbye.

Cassandra drove back to Mariemont and entered a restaurant there, though didn't order anything. The staff made nothing of it, because Cassandra was well known back when she was human, and visited the place frequently enough with Marius that she wasn't questioned whenever she came alone.

And that's when Cassandra noticed Marius here with another woman.

Cassandra knew that Marius selected young women from his office to cheat on her with, but this one seemed different somehow. It wasn't just that she too was an actual angel, but that Marius managed to actually producing a charming smile for her. With his other conquests, it was clear from his expression they were mere prizes.

Not so, this one, and that made Cassandra colder inside than usual. Though, something broke through, and Cassandra was startled by wetness running down from the inside corner of her eye down to her lip. Hastily, she looked away and picked up a napkin to dab at the tear track.

Marius' eyes also glinted, but it was with authentic enjoyment of his company, who tilted her face down, but looked up with a school girl's blush. Cassandra couldn't remember a day when Marius made her feel that way, and here this winged woman was accepting feelings never meant for her.

Before she knew it, Cassandra had wrapped her fingers around the butter knife, not that it would've been good for cutting herself. However, she realized with bewilderment that it now was crooked and twisted from her wringing it in her hand. "Oh, god."

She'd muttered that under her breath, but Cassandra shot a look toward Marius, who was facing away, wondering if he heard. Then, Cassandra switched sides of the table, but pulled out her compact, that she rarely used, and surveyed the adulterous scene covertly.

Marius was discussing the theater, her theater, "They have Les Mis showing this week, if you'd like to go see that."

"That sounds wonderful," the brunette said, and meant it from her flattered expression. "I'd love to. Are you sure your aunt won't mind."

"Aunt Cassandra has plenty of support at home," Marius declared to her, causing Cassandra to seethe.

'His aunt,' he told her, Cassandra rued, and had to consciously stop herself from squeezing the compact into broken fragments.

"Can I take your order?" a waiter asked, with a towel over his forearm.

Cassandra looked up at the tall thin human, who rather than become shocked at who sat before him, appeared to visibly soften on seeing her face.

"No, I'm sorry, I'll be leaving soon," Cassandra answered him quietly, and put the compact away.

"Take your time, miss." he tone was sympathetic. "I hope things get better for you."

"Thank you," Cassandra said, and rose up to leave.

Wanting to rush out and get to her car before breaking down, Cassandra was mindful that Marius could turn any instant and catch her departure. She kept her pace even and steady, even outside the restaurant, and got into her car with all the deception of calm and casualness she'd exude at one of Marius' dinner parties.

Inside her car, Cassandra sobbed, though without too many more tears breaking free. One additional cruelty of being a vampire, was that her tear ducts greedily held back the water works, just making her wincing look like just an ugly scowl better suited to a child-eating witch.

She drove home after that, and went straight to her room without speaking to any of the staff. Cassandra flung the earring box against the wall and plopped down on the bed. She didn't know how long she sat there staring at nothing but realized it must've been hours, when Marius came through the front door.

"Sofia," Marius called out, "Tell them to get supper ready, and send someone to pick up Cassandra's meal."

Wiping at her face, Cassandra realized it was dry, and then decided she could perform for Marius' coming home from the office. She came out to meet him, though he walked past her to his study where his personal liquor cabinet waited.

Even when out cheating on her, Marius always made a show of kissing her on the cheek when coming home, especially when fresh from cheating on her, in fact. Now that other woman was stealing even the fake front of joy from her.

Cassandra followed Marius to his study, and came upon him when he was just reaching for the cabinet. He turned to see her and said, "I'll have to cancel our anniversary night, dear. Something's come up and I have to go out of town for the whole weekend."

The same weekend that Les Mis was scheduled, Cassandra recalled from the concert hall announcement. "Can't you send someone else to fill in for you?"

"Can't," Marius curtly rebutted, without even looking her in the eye. "It's a major deal, and I gotta be there to close it."

"Where are they sending you?" Cassandra asked meekly.

"Do you need proof?" Marius snapped at her, and then waved it off, while pouring himself a drink. "I don't need your paranoia again. I told you it's a business trip, and that's it."

"I saw her, Marius," she announced, before she realized it had been out loud. "I saw who you went out with."

"Spying on me?" Marius gritted, and slammed the bottle onto the table next to his reading chair so hard that some of its contents leapt out the top.

"No, I...," Cassandra reflexively became apologetic, but the glare from Marius cut her short, and then she forced out the words, "I just went to our place, and happened to see you there. With her."

Anger had crept into her voice in the last few words, and Marius' face became unreadable while he studied her. "Just happened to be by, huh?"

"Yes," Cassandra's humiliation flared into something else that moment, "and you really seemed to like her. She's not like the others, is she? Do you love her? Just tell me!"

"Tell you what?" Marius shot, and took an enrage swig from his glass before blurting out from wetted lips. "Yeah, she and I have something special. Something you'll never understand. There, I said it. What are you going to do about it?"

Cassandra felt something else hurt, something not far from her stilled heart, and she came at Marius, making him try to slap her. She caught his wrist and fractured it with bone-popping ease. Her other hand went for the bottle, and Cassandra crashed it against the cabinet before grinding it into Marius' neck.

Marius threw a folded-wrist wing into Cassandra's face, which knocked her head sideways an instant, but the splash of blood onto her hand, drew her relentlessly back in at him. Dropping the bottle, she gripped Marius' throat and squeezed.

Cassandra didn't fret the spilling of his blood on his chair, she didn't even feel any desire to feed off him, lest something unseemly inside him contaminate her. She just wrapped her other hand around his neck and wrung her fury into the stranglehold. Her black lifeless eyes burned hatred into his desperate and startled baby blues.

She realized he was dead because Cassandra had to hold his entire body weight in her hands, which only took the effort of staying balanced on her feet with the load that far from her body. She dropped Marius, and his body collapsed into a heap at her blood-soaked feet.

Ruined, Cassandra realized that the shoes she wore were Marius' present for Christmas last year. She could replace them easily enough, and it occurred to her she didn't feel hurt by Marius anymore. However, she would have to deal with this mess, and Cassandra considered the fact that Sofia would soon retire for the night.

Marius was going for a trip, Cassandra remembered and pictured where all the cleaning supplies were kept. It would be the first time in at least a decade that she ever touched them, but the task didn't seem all that overwhelming. The only question mark was what to say of the other woman.

It was then that Cassandra realized it wasn't the first time she had to type a message on Marius' behalf and through his own email accounts. Marius could've called it off with her, and declared that he couldn't do this to Cassandra any more. A fit of drinking to wash down the guilt, only for Marius to discover that came up short, and he did the unthinkable to himself.

Yes, that'd do nicely.


End file.
